From dreamland to nightmare: UF students in limbo as housing complex sees further delays

The excitement surrounding the start of the fall semester for new students at the University of Florida has turned into a "nightmare" for some as a new apartment complex expected to open in August remains under construction.

Further complicating matters, students put up in hotels by the developer of the new UFORA Gainesville will soon be forced to vacate their rooms to make room for the influx of Florida Gators football fans during an upcoming home game.

UFORA, located just east of campus at 1218 SW Fifth Ave., stands tall over its surrounding area at eight stories. It has 232 units and 663 bedrooms in total.

It’s unknown at what percentage the building is leased, but students and others were scheduled to move in on Aug. 5, about three weeks before classes were set to begin. Students are now expected to be able to move in sometime between Sept. 15-30 at the earliest.

Two options

As a result of the delay, students and their parents were given two options: Pay rent and be assigned to a hotel within walking distance of UF or on an RTS route along with a daily per diem, or receive a weekly $600 gift card and find their accommodations.

Those who chose the first option have been told by hotel management that their reservations only run through Sept. 15, the Friday before the Gators host SEC rival Tennessee.

“Everybody knows the hotel situation in Gainesville on game weekends. That’s why everyone’s kind of scrambling again," said Kori Hammel, whose daughter is staying at the Holiday Inn at the corner of University Avenue and Southwest 13th Street.

Hammel, who lives in Trumbell, Connecticut, received an email from the 'UFORA team" on Friday that said "Your daughter will have a place to stay, we just don't know where. At this point we cannot guarantee a place with her roommates. She may be able to go back to the Holiday Inn or she may not, we don't know."

Fearing that the new hotel could be too far away from campus, Hammel secured a refundable reservation at the Holiday Inn for her daughter after the weekend that could cost her more than $3,000 for the remainder of the month.

The email finished by saying UFORA would cover the hotel cost again as long as it is booked by them.

"It’s the communication and not being transparent about this that’s driving everybody crazy," Hammel said. "It’s not the hotel’s fault.”

Calls to UFORA developer Alta Terra Real Estate — owned by UF alum Michael Augustine —  and property management company Asset Living went unanswered Thursday and Friday. Two UFORA representatives at the Holiday Inn on Wednesday also declined to comment. Questions sent via email to the complex's management also went unanswered.

Brooke Sokolowski, a third-year psychology major staying at the Holiday Inn, said she finds the room and the situation "depressing." She said she thinks it's unfair that they will get kicked out just because of upcoming football games.

"They need to figure out another living situation with the same closeness as UFORA. Even the hotels where kids have to take buses and stuff, that's not what we're paying for," she said. "The reason why we chose to live there is because of the location.

Other hotels being used by future UFORA residents include the Hampton Inn and Hyatt Place Gainesville Downtown, the Home2Suites on Southwest 13th Street and Aloft Gainesville, which is just west of the Florida Museum.

No longer 'dreamland'

Those who decided to take the $600 weekly gift card have also run into their own problems.

Lissete Valdes, of Jupiter, said her daughter Isabella has been staying at the AC Marriott across from campus with three friends. The bill runs an average of about $190 a night. That price is expected to jump to $1,290 a night for the weekend of the Tennessee football game.

"I’ll never forget that number," she said.

Isabella and her friends don't have a plan for that weekend as of yet but plan to split up if needed to find a suitable living situation. After the game, two of them have secured an Airbnb Sept. 19-30.

Linda Brown, of Pensacola, whose freshman grandson also has been staying at the AC Marriott, said she has been footing the majority of the bill so that he can stay in a safe and clean space.

"This was supposed to be dreamland here," Brown said. "We have been working toward this all his life. And we thought we had chosen the best apartment, with the most amenities. Yes, It was expensive, but we thought it was really going to be the best choice and the closest to walk across the street to campus. And it's just turned into a nightmare."

Cindy Hamilton, of Asheville, North Carolina, who also chose to take the gift cards, found different solutions for housing for her two daughters Abigail and Christina. Christina has been staying with her boyfriend while Abigail started at the downtown Hyatt.

The longer-than-expected stay at the Hyatt, however, forced Hamilton to find a more cost-effective option. That presented itself in the form of a new lease at Theory Gainesville, at 1210 NW Fifth Ave. According to Hamilton, Theory has offered those impacted by the UFORA delay an opportunity to sign a lease through Oct. 5 — the day the UFORA lease agreements can be legally terminated under the 60-day window.

If the UFORA delay extends beyond Oct. 5, however, those who signed with Theory will be stuck with 12-month leases.

Future UFORA tenants are also unclear on whether they will have to pay back the $600-a-week gift cards if they choose to cancel their lease next month, after a series of UFORA memos and addendums.

"The lease doesn’t agree with the addendum, which doesn’t agree with the memos, which has caused the parents to go in circles with every attorney in the state of Florida, including UF Legal. And it’s still not clear," Hamilton said. "We’re not even sure where we stand legally with UFORA anymore.”

An email sent Wednesday from UFORA to one parent said those who terminate their lease after the 60-day window would be required to pay back the concessions.

Honoring a commitment

Stan Pietruska, of Harding Township, New Jersey, said that while he and his daughter, Allison, a freshman, are disappointed that the apartment complex still isn't finished, they are still looking forward to its completion.

"My daughter wants to be in UFORA, that's where she wants to be," he said. "She has confidence in the project that it'll be good. We certainly intend to honor our commitment and we expect them to honor theirs."

Just a half mile away, a similar situation is also going on with the future tenants of the Sweetwater Gainesville Apartments, 1250 W. University Ave. Students there had hoped to be able to move on Sept. 7, but Sweetwater representatives announced delays due to Hurricane Idalia. The targeted move-in date is now sometime the week of Sept. 15.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF students struggle to find housing as Gainesville complex delayed